Be]laclOllr of OffshoreStructures,
Elsevlel Science Publishers B V , Amsterdam, 1985 - Plinted in The Netherlands
DYNAMIC BEHAVIOUR OF MOORING LINES
H.J.J. van den Boom
Maritime Research I n s t i t u t e Nether1 ands, P.O.
SUMMARY
In designing offshore mooring systems the
dynamic behaviour of mooring chains, wires
and multi-component l i n e s i s of increasing
importance. Various authors have reported on
experimental r e s u l t s and numerical techni-
ques r e l a t e d t o t h i s subject.
A n extensive research program has been
carried out t o gain f u r t h e r i n s i g h t in the
mechanism of the dynamic behaviour of moor-
ing l i n e s , t o quantify the e f f e c t s of impor-
t a n t parameters, w i t h special a t t e n t i o n t o
the maximum tension, and t o v a l i d a t e a nu-
merical model. For t h i s purpose, r e s u l t s of
a devel oped computer a1 gori t h m based on t h e
Lumped Mass Method were compared w i t h r e -
s u l t s of harmonic o s c i l l a t i o n t e s t s f o r var-
ious l i n e s and water depths a t d i f f e r e n t
ode1 s c a l e s . The ultimate v a l i d a t i o n was
a r r i e d out by comparing tension records
rom i r r e g u l a r wave model t e s t s with those
btained from numerical a n a l y s i s using the
measured f a i r 1 ead motion as input.
Results from t h i s study c l e a r l y show the
importance of dynamic a n a l y s i s f o r various
moori ng configurations. Dynamic tension am-
p1 i f i c a t i o n i S strongly influenced by non-
l ineari t i e s due t o catenary e f f e c t s , el as-
i c i t y and drag. The lumped mass algorithm
resented has been proven t o be an e f f e c t i v e
ool t o quantify t h e dynamic behaviour of
ul t i -component mooring configurations. Dy-
namic tensions in mooring systems may a f f e c t
the low frequency motions of the moored
1. INTRODUCTION
The increasing application of l a r g e
moored and guyed offshore s t r u c t u r e s has p u t
high demands upon t h e design of mooring a r -
rangements. Important parameters i n t h i s
respect are t h e l a r g e displacement of t h e
s t r u c t u r e , deep and h o s t i l e waters and t h e
required round-the-year . workability. The
wide v a r i e t y of mooring systems may be i l -
l u s t r a t e d by the existence of shallow and
deep water sing1 e point moorings with tempo-
Box 28, 6700 AA Wageningen
r a r i l y or permanent1 y moored tankers, clump
weight systems used f o r guyed towers and
wire moorings of semi -submersi bl e crane ves-
sel S.
Current design procedures comprise dynam-
i c motion a n a l y s i s of the moored s t r u c t u r e
and computations of mooring l i ne tension
based on the extreme position of the vessel
and t h e s t a t i c l oad-excursion c h a r a c t e r i s-
t i c s of t h e mooring system. In t h i s so-
c a l l e d quasi - s t a t i c mooring a n a l y s i s a l l
other phenomena a f f e c t i n g the maximum l i n e
tension a r e accounted f o r by an overall
s a f e t y f a c t o r as required by c l a s s i f i c a t i o n
and regulatory a u t h o r i t i e s . A typical value
of t h i s safety f a c t o r i s 3 f o r operational
conditions and 2 f o r survival conditions.
From both t h e o r e t i c a l and experimental
research i t i s known t h a t t h e dynamic behav-.
iour of a mooring l i n e induced by high f r e -
quency o s c i l l a t i o n s of t h e upper-end may
c o n t r i b u t e s i g n i f i c a n t 1 y t o l i n e tensions
and motions. Therefore these dynamic e f f e c t s
may be of importance i n the design of t h e
mooring arrangement. In some cases mooring
l i n e dynamics might a l s o a f f e c t the motions
of t h e moored object.
1; the p a s t decades various authors have
reported on experimental r e s u l t s and numeri-
cal techniques regarding above aspects.
Amongst others Van S l u i j s and Blok, [l],
found from systematical s e r i e s of forced
o s c i l l a t i o n model t e s t s t h a t the r a t i o s of
maximum dynamic tension and maximum quasi -
s t a t i c tension strongly depend on the f r e -
quency of o s c i l l a t i o n . Thi S dynamic r a t i o
increased w i t h increasing o s c i l l a t i o n amp1 i -
tude and pre-tension and with reduction of
l i n e mass.
Traditional t h e o r e t i c a l approaches t o
solve the dynamic behaviour of cable systems
were based on semi -analytical techniques.
The obstacles f o r a pure a n a l y t i c a l approach
caused by geometric n o n - l i n e a r i t i e s were re-
moved in order t o reduce t h e equations of
motion t o ordinary d i f f e r e n t i a l equations.
Other approaches such as t h e perturbation
 t e c h n i q u e s d e r i v e d l i n e a r e q u a t i o n s o f mo-
t i o n by e v a l u a t i n g small v a r i a t i o n s a b o u t an
e q u i l ib r i u m c o n f i g u r a t i o n .
A p p l i c a t i o n o f c h a i n s and c a b l e s i n v a r i -
ous u n d e r w a t e r systems r e q u i r e d more g e n e r a l
approaches t o t h e problem. I t was f o u n d by
assuming t h e l i n e t o be composed o f an i n -
t e r c o n n e c t e d s e t o f d i s c r e t e elements t h a t
t h e system o f p a r t i a l d i f f e r e n t i a l e q u a t i o n s
d e s c r i b i n g t h e v a r i a b l e s a1 ong t h e line
c o u l d be r e p l a c e d by e q u a t i o n s o f m o t i o n i n
an earth-bound system o f c o - o r d i n a t e s . The
most s u c c e s s f u l d i s c r e t e e l ement t e c h n i q u e s ,
t h e "lumped parameter method", b e t t e r known
as t h e Lumped Mass Method (LMM) and t h e F i -
n i t e Element Method (FEM) w i l l be d i s c u s s e d
here b r i e f l y .
Lumped Mass Method
T h i s t e c h n i q u e i n v o l v e s t h e l u m.p i n q o f
U demonstrated c l e a r l y . Nor were t h e e f f e c t
a l l e f f e c t s o f mass, e x t e r n a l f o r c e s and
i n t e r n a l r e a c t i o n s a t a f i n i t e number o f
p o i n t s ( " n o d e s " ) a l o n g t h e l i n e . By a p p l y i n g
t h e e q u a t i o n s o f dynamic e q u i l i b r i u m and
c o n t i n u i t y ( s t r e s s l s t r a i n ) t o each mass a
s e t o f d i s c r e t e e q u a t i o n s o f m o t i o n i s de-
r i v e d . These e q u a t i o n s may be s o l v e d i n t h e
t i m e domain d i r e c t l y u s i n g f i n i t e d i f f e r e n c e
t e c h n i q u e s . M a t e r i a l damping, b e n d i n g and
t o r s i o n a l moments a r e n o r m a l l y n e g l e c t e d .
T h i s p r o c e d u r e imp1 i e s t h a t t h e b e h a v i o u r o f
a c o n t i n u o u s l i n e i s m o d e l l e d as a s e t o f
c o n c e n t r a t e d masses connected by mass1 ess
springs.
Wal t o n and Polacheck, [21, were t h e f i r s t
a u t h o r s who suggested t h i s method t o s o l v e
m o o r i n g problems caused by t r a n s i e n t m o t i o n s
o f a moored v e s s e l . T h e i r spacewise d i s c r e - .
tization neglected material elasticity.
Moreover no d a t a on f l u i d r e a c t i v e f o r c e s
were a v a i l a b l e and no v a l i d a t i o n o f t h e a l -
g o r i t h m was g i v e n . The e x p l i c i t c e n t r a l d i f -
f e r e n c e method was p r o v e n t o p r o v i d e c o n d i -
t i o n a l l y stable solutions f o r the given
schematization.
I n r e c e n t y e a r s t h e LMM has been d e v e l -
oped f u r t h e r i n o r d e r t o s o l v e o f f s h o r e
m o o r i n g problems ( W i l h e l m y e t a l . C31, [41).
Nakajima, M o t o r a and F u j i n o , [51, extended
t h e model o f Walton and Polacheck w i t h mate-
r i a l e l a s t i c i t y and sea f l o o r c o n t a c t . U s i n g
hydrodynamic f o r c e c o e f f i c i e n t s d e r i v e d f r o m
f o r c e d o s c i l l a t i o n t e s t s on model c h a i n s ,
t h e y found a good agreement between numeri-
c a l r e s u l t s and model t e s t s f o r harmonic os-
c i l l a t i o n . U n f o r t u n a t e l y no s l a c k c o n d i t i o n s
were i n v e s t i g a t e d .
F i n i t e Element Method
The F i n i t e Element Method u t i l i z e s i n t e r -
p o l a t i o n f u n c t i o n s t o describe the behaviour
o f a g i v e n v a r i a b l e i n t e r n a l t o t h e element
i n terms o f t h e d i s p l a c e m e n t s o f t h e nodes
d e f i n i n g t h e element ( o r o t h e r g e n e r a l i z e d
c o - o r d i n a t e s ) . The e q u a t i o n s o f m o t i o n f o r a
s i n g l e e l e m e n t a r e o b t a i n e d by a p p l y i n g the
i n t e r p o l a t i o n f u n c t i o n t o k i n e m a t i c re1 a.
tions ( s t r a i n l d i s p l acement), constitutive
r e 1 a t i o n s ( s t r e s s / s t r a i n ) and t h e equations
o f dynamic e q u i l ibrium. The s o l u t i o n proce-
d u r e i s s i m i l a r t o t h e LMM.
V a r i o u s models based on t h e FEM have been
p r e s e n t e d e i t h e r u s i n g l i n e a r o r h i g h e r or-
d e r shape f u n c t i o n s . R e c e n t l y FEM models f o r
m o o r i n g line anal y s i S were developed by
F y l l i n g and Wold, 161, and L a r s e n and
F y l l i n g , [ 7 ] , and L i n d a h l and Sj'dberg, [8].
Computer codes based on t h e FEM have proven
t o be l e s s computer t i m e e f f i c i e n t when com-
p a r e d rit h t h e LMM a1 g o r i thms.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h e v a l i d i t y of t h e presen
t e d n u m e r i c a l models has so f a r n o t bee
o f t h e t y p e o f l i n e , t h e w a t e r depth and t h
upper-end o s c i l l a t i o n q u a n t i f i e d systemat
i c a l ly. T h e r e f o r e an e x t e n s i v e r e s e a r c h
program on m o o r i n g l i n e dynamics has been
c a r r i e d o u t by t h e N.S.M.B. Laboratories o f
MARIN as p a r t o f t h e N e t h e r l a n d s Marine
T e c h n o l o g i c a l Research (MaTS) program. The
p r o j e c t was sponsored b y t h e f o l l o w i n g
parties:
Dutch M i n i s t r y o f Economic A f f a i r s
Gusto E n g i n e e r i n g
Il
Heerema E n g i n e e r i n g S e r v i c e
MARIN
She1 l I n t e r n a t i o n a l e P e t r o l e u m Maatschappi j
Van R i e t s c h o t e n & Houwens
;
2. NUMERICAL MODEL i
2.1 Problem d e f i n i t i o n i
l
A mooring l i n e connected t o a s t r u c t u r e
f l o a t i n g i n i r r e g u l a r waves, w i n d and c u r -
r e n t i s s u b j e c t e d t o l i n e - e n d loads, weight,
buoyancy, sea f l o o r r e a c t i o n f o r c e s , l i n e j
i n e r t i a and f l u i d l o a d i n g . B e a r i n g i n mind I
t h e l a r g e mass of t h e s t r u c t u r e i t may be j
assumed t h a t t h e m o t i o n s o f t h e s t r u c t u r e i n j
t h e r e g i o n o f wave f r e q u e n c i e s a r e n o t a f - ;
f e c t e d by t h e m o o r i n g l i n e t e n s i o n . On t h e ,
o t h e r hand t h e dynamic response o f t h e l i n e
w i l l c o v e r t h i s f r e q u e n c y r e g i o n . Hence i t
may be assumed t h a t t h e a n a l y s i s o f t h e wave
frequency m o t i o n s o f t h e s t r u c t u r e and t h e
ll
b e h a v i o u r o f t h e m o o r i n g l i n e can be t r e a t e d
s e p a r a t e l y . The f a i r l e a d m o t i o n i s t h u s t h e
boundary c o n d i t i o n f o r t h e l i n e m o t i o n s .
The f l u i d l o a d i n g o f t h e l i n e i s due t o
I
1
wave i n d u c e d o r b i t a l v e l o c i t i e s , c u r r e n t and j
l i n e m o t i o n s and may be d i v i d e d i n compo- '
n e n t s p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e r e 1 a t i v e f l u i d ac-
c e l e r a t i o n ("added i n e r t i a " ) and t h o s e p r o - ,
p o r t i onal t o t h e r e 1 a t i v e v e l o c i t y squared
( " d r a g " ) . Wave c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e r e l a t i v e
i
v e l o c i t y a r e n o r m a l l y s m a l l and n e g l e c t e d
1i
here.
 When d e r i v i n g t h e e q u a t i o n s o f motion f o r [Mj] = i n e r t i a matrix
a mooring l i n e i t i s p r e f e r a b l e t o d e s c r i b e Cmj] = added i n e r t i a m a t r i x
t h e f l u i d l o a d i n g i n components a l o n g t h e r = time
l i n e ( t a n g e n t i a l ) and i n t r a n s v e r s e (normal ) X. = displacement v e c t o r
d i r e c t i o n . Taking i n t o account t h e catenary = external force vector.
shape and a1 lowing l a r g e d e f l e c t i o n s o f t h e -J
The added i n e r t i a m a t r i x can be d e r i v e d
l i n e , t h i s means t h a t t h e f l u i d l o a d i n g has f r o m t h e normal and t a n g e n t i a l f l u i d f o r c e s
t o be d e f i n e d i n a l o c a l system o f CO-ordi-, by d i r e c t i o n a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s :
nates w h i l e t h e u l t i m a t e m o t i o n s a r e r e -
q u i r e d i n an e a r t h - f i x e d " g l o b a l " system o f I m j ( r ) l = anj[Anj(r)l + atj[Qj(~)l (2) ..
C O - o r d inates. where a,,. and a t r e p r e s e n t t h e normal and
tangent7 dll
added dass:
2.2 A1 g o r i thm
The mathematical model chosen i s a
m o d i f i c a t i o n of t h e LMM as p r e s e n t e d by
Nakajima e t a1 ., C51. A computer program,
named DYNLINE, a p p l i e s t h i s method i n two
[hnj] and Cntjl are directional matrices
dimensions assuming t h a t t h e mooring l i n e
remains i n t h e v e r t i c a l p l a n e t h r o u g h b o t h g i v e n be1 ow f o r t h e two-dimensional case:
l i n e ends. , * \

[A .]
nJ
=
I:: s i nL7

-sinF cos7
-sinT

cos27
j
j
cos7
. . (5)

Line springs
(mass points)

1
X

o t t o ~ ' springs and dampers

Fig. 1. D i s c r e t i z a t i o n o f mooring l i n e by a
lumped mass method

The spacewise d i s c r e t i z a t i o n o f t h e moor-

i n g l i n e i s o b t a i n e d by lumping a l l f o r c e s
t o a f i n i t e number o f nodes ("lumped- F i g . 2. Nodal f o r c e d e f i n i t i o n s
masses"). The f i n i t e segments c o n n e c t i n g t h e
odes a r e c o n s i d e r e d as massless s p r i n g s ac-.
ounting f o r the tangential e l a s t i c i t y o f The nodal f o r c e v e c t o r F c o n t a i n s con-
he l i n e . The l i n e i s assumed t o be f u l l y t r i b u t i o n s from t h e segment-tension T, t h e
l e x i b l e i n b e n d i n g d i r e c t i o n s . The hydrody- d r a g f o r c e FD, buoyancy and w e i g h t FW and
namic f o r c e s a r e d e f i n e d i n t h e l o c a l system s o i l f o r c e s F'S.
o f c o - o r d i n a t e s ( t a n g e n t i a l and normal d i -
r e c t i o n ) a t each mass.
I n o r d e r t o d e r i v e t h e governing equa-.
t i o n s o f m o t i o n f o r t h e j - t h lumped-mass,
Newton's law i s w r i t t e n i n g l o b a l c o - o r d i -
where:
( 1+ [ m j ) . . . . (1) 3= t h e segment b a s i s v e c t o r
T r ( ~ j -+ ~~ j ) / ~ j
where: a = o r i g i n a l segment l e n g t h .
 The drag force may be derived from the may be approximated by f i n i t e difference
normal and tangential force components: methods such as the Houbolt scheme, [91:
~ . ( T + A T ) ==
1 { l l x . ( T + A T ) - 1 8 x . ( ~ )+
-J -J -J

X . ( ~ + A T=)- 1 {zx(r+Ar) - ~ x . ( T ) +
J A r2 - -J
+ ~ x . ( T - A T ) - x.(r-ZAr)}
-3 -J
or:
X . ( T + A T=) 5I L ~ ( T- ) 2 x . ( r - A T ) +
where: -J -J
fD. = drag force in local CO-.ordinates 1
+ - x.(T- AT) + - 1 2..
Ar x . ( r + A r )
- J = r e l a t i v e f l u i d velocity in local 2 -J 2 -J
U.
-J
CO-ordinates . . . . . . . (17)
c . = c u r r e n t vector in global co-ordinates The segment tension T.(r+Ar) i s derived
-JP = f l u i d s p e c i f i c density from the node positions & a Newton-Raphson
D = c h a r a c t e r i s t i c segment diameter i t e r a t i o n using the additional c o n s t r a i n t
a = segment length equation f o r t h e c o n s t i t u t i v e s t r e s s - s t r a i n
CD,, = normal drag c o e f f i c i e n t relation.
tangential drag c o e f f i c i e n t . 2 Tj ( T )
CDtTLe d i r e c t i o n a l matrices IT-] and [ Q . ] Qj ( r ) = a . { A X . ( T ) - (1 .+. -) }
J -J EA.
a r e used t o transform the globs;/ v e l o c i t i g s J
i n t o local v e l o c i t i e s (11) and the local
drag force components i n t o global forces ( 8 )
respectively.
where:
9 = segment length e r r o r vector
S . . , $.,
.T k -- t e n t a t i v e sJgment tension vector a t the
S . . ,

k-th i t e r a t i o n (T1, ....

The f l u i d r e a c t i v e force c o e f f i c i e n t s a n ,
and CDt were derived from forced os-
:!ilk!?on t e s t s and f r e e hanging towing
t e s t s w i t h model chain and wire sections.
The volumetric diameter defined by equa-
t i o n (14) proved t o be an accurate parameter
i n t h e dimensionless hydrodynamic c o e f f i -
cients:
dc = 2 m ........ (14)
where:
V = segment volume
a = segment length.
From t h e model t e s t s i t was concluded
t h a t frequency independent c o e f f i c i e n t s can
be used f o r normal mooring chains and wires.
Sea f l o o r contact may be simulated by
s p r i ng-damped systems. Tangential s o i l f r i c -
t i o n forces may be of importance when t h e
l i n e p a r t on bottom i s extremely long.
Transverse s o i l r e a c t i v e forces may be of
importance f o r 3-0 problems. Both e f f e c t s
a r e neglected here.
The time domain r e l a t i o n s between nodal
displacements, v e l o c i t i e s and a c c e l e r a t i o n s
T TN)....
A$ = length e r r o r d e r i v a t i v e ma$;ix [a$/aT]
obtained from equations ( 1 7 ) and ( 1 8 ) .
For each time s t e p the system of equation
(19) should b solved u n t i l acceptable con-
R
vergence of T AT) i s obtained. The i n i -
t i a l t e n t a t i v e tension can be taken equal t o
t h e tension in the previous step. Each node
j i s connected t o the adjacent nodes j-l and
j+l, hence equation (19) represents a t r i d i -
agonal (Nx3) system. Such equations may be
e f f i c i e n t l y solved by t h e so-called Thomas
a1 gori thm.
2.3 Computational procedure
The com~utational Drocedure followed bv
DYNLINE i s ' i l l u s t r a t e d by Fig. 3. In order
t o avoid i n s t a b i l i t y and t r a n s i e n t behaviour
the simulation i s s t a r t e d from an a r b i t r a r i -
l y chosen s t a t e of equilibrium of t h e l i n e .
This can be t h e q u a s i - s t a t i c condition of
t h e mooring l i n e found from catenary cal cu-
l a t i o n s o r numerical i n t e g r a t i o n methods,
ClOl.
The simulation i s i n i t i a t e d by applying a
s t a r t i n g function t o t h e upper-end boundary
condition:
$(T)
XJr) =
cosh ( 4 .O T/TINF)
...... (20)
where:
TINF = s t a r t i n g time.
 The normal s t i f f n e s s i s non-l inearl y
L I N E DATA
dependent on the normal displacement 6 For
QUASI-STATIC SOLUTION small d e f l e c t i o n s t h i s s t i f f n e s s equal sn:'
UPPER-END

. . . . . . . . . . . (22)
BOUNDARY
CONDITION
C, = EA 6,la 2
UPPER-END P O S I T I O N

Neglecting t h e damping the resonance f r e -

INERTIA MATRICES quencies of these p a r a s i t i c a l motions may be
S E A FLOOR I M P A C T
approximated by:

l FzE-2 VELOCITIES

DRAG F O R C E S
For t h e usual types of mooring l i n e s
SIMULATION
ACCELERATIONS resonant response of separate masses in t h e
lumped parameter model will not provide
s i g n i f i c a n t p a r a s i t i c a l motions. This even
holds t r u e f o r c l u s t e r s of masses. The oc-
currence of such may be prevented by in-,
creasing t h e number of nodes thus reducing
l
, ,
the nodal mass and element length.
CORRECTION OF TENSION
I
N O D E MOTIONS
3. VALIDATION STUDY
e F I .l
,P .i-N-A
STATISTICAL
;
\y.;M l N d R Y
3.1 Harmonic o s c i l l a t i o n t e s t s
Model t e s t s u t i l i z i n g harmonic upper-end
forced o s c i l l a t i o n s of the l i n e a t f i v e f r e -
quencies f o r eleven combinations. The water
depths ranged from 75 m t o 608 m. Chains,
s t e e l wires and chain-wire combi-l i n e s were
i n v e s t i g a t e d . For these t e s t s , which were
l c a r r i e d out according t o Froude's law of

i
Fig. 3 . DYNLINE flow diagram
On the basis of t h e known l i n e angles t h e
f l u i d i n e r t i a matrix i s found from equation
( 2 ) . Line v e l o c i t i e s a r e obtained from equa-
t i o n (16) r e s u l t i n g i n drag forces by use of
equations ( 8 ) through (11). Soil reaction
forces are derived from equation (15). Know-
ing t h e i n e r t i a matrices and the right-hand
s i d e of equation (1) t h e a c c e l e r a t i o n s f o r
the new time s t e p a r e solved. Displacements
follow from equation ( 1 7 ) . A correction of
tension i s predicted by equation (19) using
the segment length e r r o r from equation ( 1 8 ) .
The whole procedure i s repeated u n t i l an
acceptable accuracy i n tension i S obtained.
In t h a t case t h e simulation i s proceeded
with the next time s t e p by applying t h e next
boundary condition ( 20).
2.4 Discretization effects
Geometric d i s c r e t i z a t i o n i s an important
aspect of t h e lumped mass modelling. The
number of nodes should be s u f f i c i e n t t o
describe t h e l i n e p o s i t i o n . Moreover para-
s i t i c a l motions of the lumped masses may
occur. The tangential s t i f f n e s s of a s i n g l e
lumped mass i s l i n e a r l y dependent on t h e
re1 a t i ve tangential displacement:
s i m i l i t u d e , use was made of s t e e l s t u d l e s s
chain and wire. The scale r a t i o s ranged from
19 to 76. I t should be noted t h a t t h e chain
l i n k s of the 1.0 and 2.0 mm chain were c u t
a t one side. The EA-values were derived from
tension-elongation t e s t s .
The o s c i l l a t i o n t e s t s were c a r r i e d out i n
t h e 220 m X 4 m X 4 m and the 240 m X 18 m X
8 m basins of N.S.M.B. During the t e s t s t h e
forced o s c i l l a t i o n , generated by means of a
mechanical l a r g e stroke o s c i l l a t o r , was mea-
sured by means of a potentiometer. The up-,
per-end l i n e tension and v e r t i c a l angle were
measured by means of a two-component f o r c e
transducer while the tension a t t h e anchor
point was measured by means of a ring-type
f o r c e transducer. The motions of t h e l i n e
were recorded by underwater video. The mea-
sured tensions were d i r e c t l y compared w i t h
t h e DYNLINE resul t s . Moreover comparisons
were c a r r i e d out on t h e basis of t h e Dynamic
Tension Amp1 i f i c a t i o n (DTA) defined as am-
p1 i f i c a t i o n of the maximum t o t a l quasi-
s t a t i c tension, i . e . the s t a t i c tension a t
t h e maximum excursion. Fig. 4 shows t h e
s t a t i c l oad-excursi on c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , t h e
numerical d i s c r e t i z a t i o n and the dynamic
tension amplification f o r 152 mm chain a t
150 m water depth. For a 76 mm chain-wire
combi-line i n 608 m water depth t h e s e
r e s u l t s a r e presented in Fig. 5.

~ D Y N L I N E Measured Oscillation T,
Frequency of oscillation in rad/s
Fig. 4. Results of harmonic o s c i l l a t i o n
t e s t s f o r 152 mm chain a t 150 m
water depth
Measured Oscillation
o S = 4..l m
Fig. 5. Results of harmonic o s c i l l a t i o n
t e s t s f o r 76 mm chain-wire combi-
l i n e a t 608 m water depth
3.2 I r r e g u l a r wave t e s t s
Because of t h e non-l i n e a r phenomena
I involved, t h e ultimate val idation of the
developed computer program was c a r r i e d out
by means of model t e s t s in i r r e g u l a r waves.
A model of a f l o a t i n g s t r u c t u r e was moored
by means of two p a r a l l e l l i n e s and a ten-.
sioning weight as shown by Fig. 6.
F'ig. 6. T e s t set-up f o r i r r e g u l a r wave t e s t s
During t h e t e s t s t h e motions of the
s t r u c t u r e were measured by means of an
o p t i c a l tracking device while the upper-end
mooring l i n e tensions and angles were
measured by means of two-component s t r a i n -
gauges. The f a i r l e a d motions derived from
t h e measured motion a t deck level were used
as input t o DYNLINE. This procedure enabled
a determi ni s t i c a l comparison between experi -
mental and numeric tension records.
Results f o r a 46,000 tons semi -submers-
i b l e f l o a t i n g i n i r r e g u l a r waves with a
s i g n i f i c a n t height of 13.0 m and a mean
period of 15.5 S (F'ig. 7 ) a r e given in F'ig.
8 and Fig. 9. In order t o show the contribu-
t i o n of the dynamic behaviour the computer
simulations were repeated f o r 80 per cent
reduced l i n e diameters thus reducing drag
(80%) and added i n e r t i a (96%).

Measured wave spectrum
4 J i 5 = 13..0 m; T l = 15.6 S
Wave frequency in rad/s
Fig. 7. Wave spectrum
4. DISCUSSION
Results of the present study clearly show
t h a t in practical s i t u a t i o n s the dynamic
behaviour may contribute t o the maximum
tension s i g n i f i c a n t l y . Important parameters
are the non-l inear s t a t i c load-excursion,
the low frequency ( "pre-l') tension and the
amp'l i tude and frequency of the exciting
upper-end o s c i l l a t i o n .
'The pr.ime dynamic tension increase
originated from the normal drag forces
related t o large global ( f i r s t mode) l i n e
motions a t the middle sections. Long periods
of slackness even a t low frequencies of os-
cil'lation occurred due to "flying" of the
l i n e under the influence of gravity and drag
only. With increasing frequency the drag and
i n e r t i a equal l e d gravity forces resulting i n
an "elevated equilibruim" of the l i n e and
normal motions i n the upper section yielding
l ower DTA-val ues.
I n e r t i a became of importance a t higher
wave frequencies especially f o r steel wires
and mu1 ti-component lines.
Fig. 10 compares the dynamic tension ex-
cursion re1 ation w i t h the s t a t i c character-
i s t i c s . From t h i s figure i t appears t h a t the
maximum dynamic tension may be approximated
by applying the material e l a s t i c i t y t o the
high frequency o s c i l l a t i o n s directly. For
o s c i l l a t i o n s covering the t a u t s i t u a t i o n of
the l i n e , however, the dynamic ampl i f ication
i s small.
A good correlation between measured and
calculated l i n e tensions was found during
the harmonic o s c i l l a t i o n t e s t s f o r the wide
range of s i t u a t i o n s investigated. Parasit-
ical normal l i n e motions originating from
the numerical d i s c r e t i z a t i o n may r e s u l t in
high frequency secondary tension components
especially when the normal drag of the line
i s small. Due to the high frequencies and
the small magnitude of the tension compo-
nents these numerical model l i n g e f f e c t s are
of minor importance for engineering appl ica-
tions. Dynamic sea f l o o r reaction forces do
not a f f e c t the behaviour of the l i n e and can
be modelled as ' c r i t i c a l damped springs to
prevent numerical i n s t a b i l i t i e s . Determin-
i s t i c correlations f o r irregul a r upper-end
osci 1l ations have cl early shown the strong
increase of l i n e tension also in practical
s i t u a t i o n s due to the dynamic behaviour of
the l i n e . By means of the "reduced dynamics"
simulation i t was found t h a t the normal drag
forces govern the mechanism of dynamic mo-
tion of tension ampl i f i c a t i o n of the line.
As shown by Figs. 8 and 9 the high frequency
secondary tension components which r e s u l t
from the numerical d i s c r e t i z a t i o n of the
l i n e are of minor importance. Both harmonic
and i rregul a r upper-end correlation t e s t s
have c l e a r l y shown the v a l i d i t y and appl ica-
b i l i t y of the presented numerical model. I t
may therefore be concluded t h a t the use of
the Lumped Mass Method does provide e f f i -
c i e n t and accurate predictions of dynamic
motions and tensions f o r offshore mooring
analysis.
The f i r s t assumption in the dynamic anal-
y s i s of mooring l i n e s , viz. the separation
of motion analysi S of the f l o a t i n g structure
and the dynamic upper-end l i n e tension has
not been discussed y e t . Observing typical
regions of response a t wave frequencies and
resonant low frequencies of the moored
s t r u c t u r e the following interferences should
be considered:
- dynamic tensions and motions of the s t r u c -
ture a t wave frequency;
- dynamic tensions and motions of the struc-
ture i n the low frequency region;
- dynamic tensions i n the wave frequency
region and low frequency motions of the
structure.
The f i r s t two interferences strongly de-
pend on the geometry of the f l o a t i n g struc-
ture. Due t o the large displacement the wave
frequency motions will normally not be af-
fected by the mooring forces. On the other
hand the mooring system will respond quasi-
s t a t i c a l l y t o low frequency motions of the
structure.
The t h i r d interference, viz. the e f f e c t
of high frequency dynamic l i n e tensions on
the low frequency behaviour of the vessel,
was investigated by means of several addi-
tional simul ations f o r bi-harmonic oscil l a-
t i o n s . A typical low frequency o s c i l l a t i o n
w i t h a period of 100 s and 10 m ampl itude
was combined w i t h a 4 m wave frequency os-
cillation.
 2. FT.
10
WAVE
M 0

-10

X 1 0
M
H
-5 W
H

X in m
Line discretization

-1000 J _I
I I I I 1
0 50 100 150 200
TIME
S

F i g . 8. C o r r e l a t i o n Lumped Mass Method -. model test

f o r 0.076 m chain a t 292 m water depth

l0 - 300 ,
X1
WAVE
M
-10 E 200 -
l0
/'
- 100
X 1
M v
1000 2000
X in m
Line discretization

2500
T-NODE12
KN
"reduced O
dynamics"
-2500
2500
T-NODE12
KN
-2500 -)
I I I 1
0 50 ' 100 150 200
S TIME
S

Fig. 9. C o r r e l a t i o n Lumped Mass Method - model t e s t

f o r 0.076 m s t e e l w i r e a t 292 m water depth
 Displacement i n m

Fig. 10. Dynamic tension-displacement r e l a t i o n

T-.NODE17

r e s u l t s for w l
I I l I I
0 50 100 150 200
TIME
S

Fig. 11. E f f e c t of dynamic behaviour of mooring l i n e on low frequency r e s t o r i n g f o r c e s

 The low frequency energy in the bi-har- M.: "On the dynamic analysis of multi-
monic r e s u l t was studied by removing t h e component mooring l i n e s " , OTC paper
high frequency tension components by means 4309, 1982.
of low-pass f i l t e r i n g . This r e s u l t was com- L61 Fylling, I.J. and Wold, P.T.: "Cable
pared with the tension due t o the low f r e - dynamics - comparison of experimental
quency o s c i l l a t i o n only. Time h i s t o r i e s of and a n a l y t i c a l r e s u l t s " , Report-8979,
such a comparison are given i n Fig. 11. The Ship Research I n s t i t u t e of Norway,
The change of r e s t o r i n g f o r c e s experi- Trondheim, 1979.
enced by t h e f l o a t i n g s t r u c t u r e i s i l l u s - C71 Larsen, C.M. and Fylling, I.J.:
t r a t e d by an increase in amplitude of low "Dynamic behaviour of anchor l i n e s " ,
frequency tension and a phase s h i f t . Divid- BOSS 1982, Boston.
ing the tension record i n a in-phase and C81 Lindahl, J . and Sjoberg, A.: "Dynamic
quadrature phase component, i t i s c l e a r t h a t a n a l y s i s of mooring cables", Second
t h e dynamic behaviour of t h e mooring l i n e International Symposium on Ocean Engi-
may increase both the e f f e c t i v e mooring neering and Ship Hand1 ing, Gothenburg,
s t i f f n e s s and the low frequency damping. The 1983.
l a t t e r can be of the same order of magnitude C91 Bathe, K. and Wilson, E.L..: "Numerical
as the potential and viscous f l u i d damping methods in f i n i t e element analysis",
a c t i n g on the vessel ' S h u l l d i r e c t l y and i s Prentice Hall, Englewood C l i f f s , 1976.
t h e r e f o r e important f o r t h e low frequency Cl01 De Zoysa, A.P.K.: "Steady s t a t e
behaviour of the moored s t r u c t u r e . a n a l y s i s of undersea cables", Ocean
5. CONCL USIONS E:ngineering, Vol. 5, 1978.
The following major concl usions were NOMENCLATURE
drawn from t h e research program presented i n A = material area cross-section
this paper: a = added i n e r t i a
o The dynamic behaviour of mooring l i n e s B =linkwidth
occurs in many p r a c t i c a l offshore mooring C, = hydrodynamic drag c o e f f i c i e n t
s i t u a t i o n s and strongly increases the max- CI = hydrodynamic i n e r t i a c o e f f i c i e n t
imum l i ne tensions. c = c u r r e n t vector
o The use of the Lumped Mass Method does D = l ine diameter
provide e f f i c i e n t and accurate predictions dc = volumetric diameter
of dynamic l i n e motions and tensions cer- F' = force
t a i n l y f o r engineering appl i c a t i o n . FD = drag force
The dynamic components of mooring l i n e F1 = i n e r t i a f o r c e
tension may a f f e c t t h e low frequency mo- FW = weight minus buoyancy
t i o n s of the moored s t r u c t u r e by increase fD = drag force in local co-ordinates
of the v i r t u a l s t i f f n e s s and damping of G = weight per u n i t length
t h e system. j = subscript: node number
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT k = i t e r a t i o n index
The author i s indebted t o the sponsors of L = length
t h e research program "Mooring Line Dynamics" e = l i n e segment length
of the Nether1 ands Marine Technological Re- M = l i n e mass ( m a t r i x )
search (MaTS) f o r t h e i r kind permission t o m = added i n e r t i a (matrix)
make use of the r e s u l t s from t h i s program. N = node
n = subscript: normal d i r e c t i o n
REFERENCES T = tension
C11 Van S l u i j s , M.F. and Blok, J . J . : "The To = pre-tension
dynamic behaviour of mooring l i n e s " , Tdy = maximum dynamic tension
OTC paper 2881, 1977. = maximum q u a s i - s t a t i c tension
C21 Walton, T.S. and Polacheck, H.: "Cal- ;qs = subscript: tangential d i r e c t i o n
cul a t i o n of non-l i n e a r t r a n s i e n t mo- u = f l u i d velocity
tion of cables", D.T.M.B. Report 1279, V = segment volume
1959. X = displacement
C31 Wilhelmy, V., F j e l d , S. and Schneider, x,z = 2-D system of co-ordinates
S. : "Non-l i near response a n a l y s i s of 6 = displacement
anchorage systems f o r compl i a n t deep A.r = time s t e p
water platforms", OTC paper 4051, A = transformation matrix
1981. p = f l u i d density
C41 Wilhelmy, V. and F j e l d , S.: "Assess- r = transformation matrix
ment of deep water anchorings based on T = time
t h e i r dynamic behaviour1', OTC paper = v e r t i c a l l i n e angle
4174, 1982. = segment length e r r o r vector
C51 Nakajima, T., Motora, S. and Fujino, n = transformation matrix